Ten years after going solo, Mike Doughty proves he still has soul

Mike Doughty has always been, well, Mike Doughty. Since the beginning, the enigmatic songwriter has used clever lyrics and subtle melodies that manage to avoid pretension and garishness and all that is glorified in most of today's music for something much more genuine. It's something that he has been both praised and criticized for throughout his ever evolving career. But as Doughty reveals, he doesn't care about all that.

There's a vision one gets when you listen to the slightly melancholic, mumbling style of Mike Doughty. One of a scruffy man slouched over an acoustic guitar just sort of singing to himself about interesting things in clever ways. Like a man that has a lot to say but not a lot of concern if anyone wants to listen all that much. It's relaxed, poetic, humble and a little apathetic, a style that he made popular in the early '90s with the highly-esteemed alt/rock group Soul Coughing, and one that he continues nearly two decades later as a triumphant solo artist.

Of course there are differences between the songwriter and the front man. Doughty's solo material is more lucid and bare than Soul Coughing's funk, jazz and post-grunge tendencies, a contrast seen most clearly on Doughty's latest solo release titled, "Sad Man, Happy Man". That bareness is something that the rather quiet 39-year-old set out to find 10 years ago after disbanding Soul Coughing.

"I wanted purity, simplicity, and rhythm. I think I got it," says Doughty.

For "Sad Man, Happy Man" Doughty went back to his days after leaving Soul Coughing. Back to the days when he was still trying to kick his heroin habit and touring over 9,000 miles in a rental car performing acoustic shows in bars and small venues for fans and strangers alike. On the new record, Doughty plays mostly acoustic and handles every other instrument save for the bass which he left up to long-time touring partner Andrew Livingston.

The new album comes after the widespread success of Doughty's 2008 release "Golden Delicious," an album that flew to mainstream recognition thanks in large part to the hits, "Fort Hood" and "27 Jennifers." When comparing the two albums, Doughty admits from his Web site a certain amount of worry concerning fan's reaction.

"I tend to take sharp left turns. Every time I put out a record, the audience seems to like what I did two years ago better. You'd think I could shrug it off because that's what always happens, but it always gets to me."

But left turns are what Doughty has been making his whole life. From an Army brat living on the grounds of West Point to a poetry student at New School University in New York to post-grunge hero to modern folk icon, Doughty has endured enough left turns to now come full-circle.

If you go

Who: Mike Doughty, presented by 105.5 The Bridge

When: Tuesday, 9 p.m.

Where: The Pour House, 1977 Maybank Hwy.

Cost: $15 at www.etix.com, all Cat's Music and Monster Music locations

Hear the artist: www.mikedoughty.com